


Up for the Challange

by Detavot



Series: BBKidsWeek [2]
Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Can be read as platonic or as shippy, Gen, Green Witch Arc, Spoilers for the Manga, bbkidsweek, but I don't ship children so that's my stance on the matter, mangaverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 20:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15589740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Detavot/pseuds/Detavot
Summary: Sieglinde Sullivan as she shakes off her grief and challenges life.





	Up for the Challange

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Favourite relationship
> 
> My writing skills just go down from here, read at your own risk.

    Sieglinde had been raised with fairy tales, with magic and mythical creatures that fascinated and terrified her. She had loved every second of it because she had been taught to believe she was helping people. Her insatiable curiosity had her butler, Wolfram, running through the village to fetch her books or equipments. She wanted to learn everything there was to know about this world, she wanted to know how many other witches were out there and waiting for her help. She had just wanted to help people. Just… help.

    When Ciel and his butler, Sebastian, walked into their village, Sieglinde had seen this as the one rare opportunity to finally satisfy her curiosity about the outside world. What did people wear beyond the forest? Since those two and the others spoke in a weird dialect, Sieglinde wanted to know how many dialects there were in the outside world. She wanted to know what Ciel’s clothes were made of. She wanted to know if he had parents, if he had any siblings. What was it like to have both males and females in your village? Ciel was a question she had never dared to pose before, and she was not going to let this chance slip past her.

    She could see the boy squinting his eye to read her lips and try to piece her words together. Finally, he seemed satisfied with his interpretation, and answered with a shake of his head. “ _Parents_. _Don't have_.” Sieglinde was disappointed. She would have liked to learn what parents were like. She asked who the man in black was. “Sebastian. _My butler_.” There was something missing in that phrase, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. It was probably the boy’s horrid grammar and pronunciation that made her feel this way.

    There was a glint in the boy’s eyes. He was obviously happy that he had been able to understand correctly and answer even in the most basic way possible. Sieglinde hid her smile with a bite of the food. They were the same. Hunters for knowledge, trying their hardest to solve the mysteries they were given. Ciel was a mystery to her, and she knew that she and her village were a mystery for him. In the books she read, men were told to be savage beasts who would never stop at getting what or who they wanted. She wanted to know if that was true.

    She got the message that not all men were like that when she was shoved off the bed by the blushing mess she had created. A virgin, like her. How intriguing.

    She couldn't describe the fear she felt when she saw Sebastian and Ciel covered in miasma. Ciel was whimpering in his butler’s arms, and Sebastian looked like everything he had known about the world was crashing down around him. “ _I will take any punishment later, please just help the Young Master_!” The boy with the cold expression, the boy who spoke with confidence and a regality that could not be taught, was clutching his butler like a lifeline while whimpering pathetically. It was so unnatural that it frightened her.

    “ _How long has it been_?” Sieglinde shouted as she prepared the ingredients. She had to save them, she had to!

    “ _Fifteen minutes_!” She felt her heart drop down to her stomach.

    “ _Shit_!” she screamed. She gave the butler instructions and he did them without asking a single question. Thank god.

    She could see the child clawing the man’s arms as he fed him forcefully. He was spitting it out by himself, his screams muffled by the cone; an instinct that Sieglinde didn't really want to know how he had earned. After they put Ciel to bed, Sieglinde went back to hers. She didn't get much sleep, Ciel’s screams were still echoing in her ears.

    Sieglinde was woken up by Ciel’s screams. Wolfram looked ready to murder the poor boy when he found out, and Sieglinde had to calm her guardian down enough to dress her and start their day. Sebastian came to her while she was getting ready for breakfast, and explained the situation. Ciel wore an eyepatch, his sight was limited enough as it was, and now Sebastian was telling her that he had lost sight completely. He bowed to her, begging her to do everything in her power to heal him.

    Sieglinde would work hard, she would never leave Ciel in the state he is, but she also wouldn't let such a golden opportunity pass by her. With Sebastian as her teacher, she would get to know the outside world and amaze Ciel with her knowledge! She would cast the ultimate spell and then… And then Ciel and she could really be friends. They could visit each other, talk about anything they wanted, laugh together...

    She finished the ultimate spell.

    In the night, Ciel visited her. He was fully recovered and Sieglinde felt so proud of her ultimate spell. And then, he offered her a chance to finally go to the outside world.

    She broke her own heart as she said no.

    "I see,” Ciel said. He sounded disappointed. “It can't be helped. I’m sorry for saying strange things like that.” It wasn't strange… “You should close the door and get some sleep, then.” No, she didn't want to sleep… “Just like a dream, we’ll be gone by the morning.” No, please don't go. Please don't leave. She wanted him beside her. She wanted to be with him. Suddenly, Ciel looked over his shoulder and switched his language. “ _Thank you_. _Friend_. _Goodbye_.”

    His pronunciation was horrible and he hasn't only spoken four words, but he had been trying, damn it, just to communicate with her! Just to call her a friend! And, suddenly, Sieglinde knew she had to leave and take her place beside him. They would hunt for knowledge together, she knew they would.

    Ciel was there, right beside her, as he unraveled the horrible truths. Ciel made her stare right at them. As he took her weight on his shoulder and began to escape with her, he made her feel like an actual human being instead of some sick experiment. “Children are not their parents’ tools!” he had shouted, and Sieglinde wished it was true.

    Then, as suddenly as it had come, the warm side of Ciel had faded just as quickly. She decided that she liked this cold side to him as well. This cold side of him was not afraid of telling truths, and Sieglinde didn't want to be lied to anymore. “Now is the time to choose whether you want to continue,” he took out the gun he had fired a minute ago and rested it against her forehead. “Or you’d rather end it here?”

    She had created a weapon to kill countless people. Her entire life had been some sick, twisted joke and the ones she had trusted lied straight to her face. Was there… Was there anything left for her? She told him her thoughts, unable to keep her tears at bay as she sobbed her wishes.

    “Of course, dying here seems like the best option,” Ciel stated, his voice cold but not accusing. “That way, you won't have to take responsibility for any casualties caused by the poison you created.” Did he have to remind her of that? “That way, you won’t have to hear the screams of all the people you could've saved.”

    “Saved?” How could she save them? There was no way to save them from this poison, she knew, because this was her best work yet.

    “If you could make the poison, you could theoretically also make the antidote.”

    “Could… Could I?”

    “I don't know, but we’re certainly not going to find out if you die here. How about it, are you up for the challenge?”

    Ciel had made her face the horrible truth, he had waltzed in and thoroughly wrecked her life. But he had also given her strength, he had saved Wolfram and taken care of them. Ciel had lectured her on how to be kind yet firm, how to never let people get to her.

    “The outside world is quite more dangerous than the village,” Ciel said, his voice leaving no room for argument. “From now on, everyone will try to use you. You mustn’t trust anyone, that includes me, and most people you meet will not play by the rules.”

    “But if I give the Queen the formula for the mustard gas…”

    “The Queen knows you as a genius scientist who has found the most dangerous poisonous gas out there. Instead of SuLin, it would be better if she only had access to mustard gas. You must earn her trust and once you’ve locked yourself in, you must take what you want mercilessly.”

    Yes. Sieglinde liked this cold side of Ciel just as much as she liked the warm side he tried desperately to hide. She liked how he wasn't afraid of showing her the harsh reality, of giving her advice but not making the decisions for her. She liked being beside him, and she liked how he brought her new challenges with every mission.

    The outside world was merciless and scary, but she felt like she could do but about anything with her old and new friends by her side. Now, all that was left to do was to lock herself into the position she was given--by Ciel’s side. And she was up for that challenge. 


End file.
